The Meeting
by CaptainS10
Summary: Holly Short is sent above ground on a mission and runs into Artemis Fowl. . . literally. This meeting can't go well. What will happen? T for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay. So. This story hasn't really been edited much, but I'm gonna repost it anyways for lack of a better thing to do. I broke my ankle yesterday so I'm stuck lying with my foot propped and bored out of my mind. :/ -sigh- but anyhow. . FLUFFY! Sort of! I wouldn't say a couple if these are fluffy but this story is completely pure romance. :) At the end of it, perhaps if enough people ask for it and I come up with an idea, I will make a sequel, but no promises. In the meantime, though. . Enjoy this story! :D**

Chapter 1

"Ready, Butler?" he asked his bodyguard.

The man nodded. "Let's do this."

Artemis Fowl the second was- not surprisingly- up to no good once again. Artemis grabbed his coat, and Butler his things, and the duo left, ready to complete Artemis' latest criminal plot.

A hour and a half later, Artemis and Butler walked out from an old building, their heist completed. Artemis looked at the ground and smiled his vampire smile as Butler slung a heavy black bag over his shoulder.

Unfortunately, when you're looking at the ground you're _not _looking where you're walking.

"Artemis!" Butler said. He reached out and tried to stop the boy, but he was a split second too late. Artemis slipped right through his hands and fell to the ground.

Luckily for him, he didn't land on the ground. Unfortunately, this was because he landed on someone else.

He heard the person he landed ons breath leave in a _whoosh_. The person gasped, trying to breathe. Artemis scrambled backwards, climbing to his feet on his own. Butler checked to make sure Artemis was okay, then leaned down and helped the other person to their feet.

It was a girl small enough to be a child, but with proportions to large for one. She had cropped auburn hair and large hazel eyes, which looked extremely angry.

Artemis looked at Butler, unsure, then looked back at the girl. Their eyes met. She stopped, going still and deadly silent. There were a dozen different emotions on her face. Her anger was still there, but it was subdued, no longer dominant, replaced with something that looked like, if Artemis read the look on her face correctly, fear.

Butler raised his eyebrows. His hand was still on the girl's arm. He looked at Artemis and caught his eyes. The boy nodded.

Artemis stepped forward, his head cocked. He was examining her closely, but trying to keep it subtle. Something about the girl's reaction seemed off to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The girl held her breath and didn't move.

After a few more moments, Artemis asked the girl softly, "Do I know you?" He had realized something about the girl seemed familiar, but again, he couldn't figure out exactly why.

The girl shook her head. "No," she said quietly. Her voice was barely audible.

Artemis didn't look convinced, but he stepped aside and gestured for her to pass. "Sorry," he murmured.

The girl nodded, silently accepting his apology, and quickly, with out a second glance back, scurried away out of sight.

He looked at Butler. "What was that about?" he asked.

The genius shook his head. "I don't know, but I intend to find out. Did you plant it?"

"Yes. It will be a little muffled, but we should now be able to hear everything she says. Are you sure that was a good idea? It was probably just a waste of technology."

"No," Artemis answered. "I'm_ positive _it was a good idea. I don't know what it is, Butler, but there's something about her. I swear I've seen her some where before. She looks familiar, and I can't figure out why."

"I agree," Butler said. "She definitely looks familiar. But why would she lie about something so stupid? And did you see the way she acted when she saw you? It was like she thought you were going to pull out a knife and start stabbing her." He shook his head.

Artemis shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but hopefully that little gadget of ours will fix that. Now turn it on. The sooner the better, because I have a feeling that we're missing valuable information."

Butler nodded, pulled out the control piece for the little chip and pressed the power button.

**So, cliffhanger at the end. This story has a bunch of those, fair warning. ;) So, who wants to know what happens next? Review and I will update!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, guys. Since you guys asked for it, a couple of you anyways, I'm posting the next chapter. Not gonna say much except one thing I need to clear up for some of you: this takes place after book three. That would be why she recognized him but not vice versa. The mind wipe is still in effect. I hope that makes sense to everybody.**

**Now, enjoy, and please R&R.**

Chapter 2

Butler was right. When they turned it on, it was a bit muffled, but still audible. He held it up between them so they could both hear it.

The girl seemed to be in the middle of something. Even though he'd only heard it once, he immediately recognized her voice.

"No," she said to the person she was talking to.

"Can we turn up the volume so we can hear the other person?" Artemis asked Butler, and the man nodded.

He turned the volume up six notches. They could just barely hear the other person's voice.

After a moment of thought, she said, "Well. he asked me if he knew me. I told him no, but-"

"He didn't look convinced," the other person finished for her. "Okay. Don't worry. It might have stirred some memories, but nothing major or you probably wouldn't have gotten away so easily. So," he said, pausing for a moment, "I think I'll send you on a brief surveillance mission to Fowl Manor, just to be sure. You can never be too careful with Fowl."

"Okay, Commander," she sighed.

"Good. One more thing before you go, Captain."

"Yes, sir?" she asked.

"Be careful. After last time...Well, we can't afford something like that again, we could barely afford it the last time. There's no way we would be able to scrape up what it takes to bail you out again. In other words: You get captured, you'll stay captured. Clear?"

"Clear as day, Commander."

"Good. Bye, Captain Short."

"Bye, Commander." The girl, Captain Short, hung up. "Great. Well, at least I can still get in if I need to. Fowl never took back my invitation." She paused, then sighed. "This is going to be a long night."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so I haven't updated for a while. Anything, honestly. I'll tell you guys why: I haven't actually been working on anything FF related. **

**-dodges flying books and scowls- That was not necessary, but here's my excuse: I've been working on original stuff. Kellycat77 and I are entering a contest, and, as much as we all know how much we would both love to submit something Arty-related, as per our obsessions, they only take original things. If anyone interested in hearing details you can PM me and I'll give you some insight. **

**But anyway. . . . yeah, working for a deadline. So not a whole lot of time to work on FF. Plus, adding on a suckish excuse, my computer took a crap and is refusing to work. Won't even turn on. Therefore I am having some severe issues posting. -sighs- as I type I am using my grandmother's computer. SO, I'm going to add a few more chapters on here now, and that will have to satisfy you guys for a while. Sorry.**

**Alright, I'm done babbling. On with the story! **

Chapter 3

Captain Holly Short was walking down the side walk, trying to catch her breath from the chase she had to endure while trying to complete her mission, when she was toppled by some stupid Mud-Idiot not watching where he was going.

She just had time to hear someone say something that sounded like. "Artemis!" before she hit the ground, extremely hard. Of course, she could have been hallucinating, but that was what it sounded like.

Her shield went down as his elbow landed on her stomach with his full body weight. She bit her tongue and fought back the urge to puke. Her breath was knocked out of her body. She gasped, and the Mud Boy rolled over off her, to the side. Suddenly huge hands were grabbing her, lifting her to her feet.

As soon as she was back on her feet, she turned and fixed the guy with one of her signature looks that clearly meant she was completely _ticked._

Then their eyes met, and she stopped with her mouth half open. She recognized that face, unfortunately.

It was Artemis Fowl.

She stopped, dead still and unusually silent. She was feeling a hundred different emotions at once, and suddenly she wasn't angry as much as scared.

They had mind wiped Artemis, figuring that the influence of his friends and family would be enough to keep him from converting back to the same monster he had been when they first met. Had it worked? And what if he recognized her?

In that brief moment that their gazes met, she was able to see that some part of him _had_ recognized her, and that part was struggling to get free. Holly held her breath, waiting to see what would happen.

Finally, he stepped forward and asked, "Do I know you?"

_Uh-oh_, she thought. She shook her head, and said in a quiet voice, "No."

She spoke quietly as she could in hope that he wouldn't recognize her voice, and in English so that he could understand her. She almost spoke Gnommish, but she caught herself before she could; that, combined with the fact that he was standing here looking at her, could be enough to jog some memories.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, to her surprise, he stepped back and gestured for her to go. "Sorry," he murmured, so soft she could barely hear it.

She looked up and searched his face. He by no means at all looked convinced, but she wasn't going to say anything. It was a chance for her to get away free, and she was going to take it.

She turned and started half-running down the path away from them. Less than two minutes later, she had her old communicator out and Commander Julius Root on the other line.

"What?" he barked, on answering.

"Commander," she said, panting slightly. "We might have a problem."

"What? Something interfering with your mission?"

"No, not exactly. It went fine. This has nothing to do with that."

"Then what's the problem?" he demanded. "Come on. Don't play mind games with me, Short."

"I'm not."

"Then tell me!"

She took a deep breath. "I just saw Fowl. Well, ran into him is more like it. Literally, he ran into me and tackled me."

She heard Root's sharp intake of breath on the other line. "Did he recognize you?"

"No. Well," she said after a moment of thought, "He asked me if he knew me. I told him no, but-"

"He didn't look convinced," her commander finished for her. "Okay. Don't worry. It might have stirred some memories, but nothing major or you probably wouldn't have gotten away so easily. So," he said, pausing for a moment, "I think I'll send you on a brief surveillance mission to Fowl Manor, just to be sure. You can never be too careful with Fowl."

"Okay, Commander," she sighed.

"Good. One more thing before you go, Captain."

"Yes, sir?" she asked.

"Be careful. After last time...Well, we can't afford something like that again, we could barely afford it the last time. There's no way we would be able to scrape up what it takes to bail you out again. In other words: You get captured, you'll stay captured. Clear?"

"Clear as day, Commander."

"Good. Bye, Captain Short."

"Bye, Commander." Captain Short hung up. "Great. Well, at least I can still get in if I need to. Fowl never took back my invitation." She paused, then sighed. "This is going to be a long night."

* * *

Holly flew over the open area around her, enjoying the fresh surface air. She had just finished performing The Ritual, she was still buzzing and tingling with her newly renewed magic, and was now on her way to Fowl Manor. It was after ten o'clock at night. She had dragged it out as long as she could, but now it was time to get down to business.

She landed on Fowl's windowsill around eleven thirty. Any sane person would be asleep at this hour, but not Artemis Fowl. He was still sitting up at his computer, typing. She sighed, and alighted on the windowsill. It was closed, and she couldn't open it to get in with out attracting his attention. She tried to see what he was typing, but it was impossible from where she was now. She turned and sneaked a peek at the door. It was slightly ajar, so she decided to go around the front of the house and sneak in that way.

Holly made her way inside and slipped through Artemis' door. Walking up quietly behind him, she looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. He didn't seem to be doing anything of interest, certainly nothing pertaining to The People, so she turned and went to lean on the wall. Better not to stand so close, anyways. Watching from a distance was safer.

For a while she just sat against the wall and watched him. Nothing happened. Then, suddenly Artemis sat straight up in his chair. He didn't turn around, but simply reached up and touched his ear. He murmured something unintelligible under his breath and suddenly the door shot open, and Butler entered, holding a gun.

It was then Holly realized that her presence had been detected. She turned and dashed toward the window, but when she tried to open it she realized it was locked. She knew she would never be able to unlock it in time to make it safely out.

She heard Artemis murmur, "The window," and knew immediately it was over. She turned around. Butler cocked the gun, aimed briefly, and fired.

Holly didn't even try to dodge it, knowing even if the first one were to miss her by some miracle, it still wouldn't buy her enough time to escape and she would still be caught eventually. The dart caught her in the leg and she crumpled, grabbing the windowsill for support. Her shield went down.

That was the last thing she remembered before passing out.


End file.
